Infrastructure as a service (IaaS) is a cloud computing service in which a vendor provides users access to computing resources such as servers, storage, and networking. IaaS 1) allows users pay for IaaS on demand instead of purchasing hardware outright; 2) uses scalable infrastructure that depends on processing and storage needs, 3) saves enterprises the costs of buying and maintaining their own hardware, and 4) enables the automation of administrative tasks and frees up time for other work.
An IaaS provider hosts the infrastructure components traditionally present in an on-premises data center, including servers, storage and networking hardware, as well as the virtualization or hypervisor layer. The IaaS provider also supplies a range of services to accompany those infrastructure components. Services can include detailed billing, monitoring, log access, security, load balancing and clustering, as well as storage resiliency such as backup, replication and disaster recovery.
Disaster recovery services are typically measured by recovery point objective (RPO) (e.g., maximum data loss) and recovery time objectives (RTO) (e.g., maximum time to recover). Disaster recovery typically involves a set of policies, tools, and procedures to enable the recovery or continuation of vital technology infrastructure and systems following a natural or human-induced disaster.